Cardiff City interim boss Mark Hudson insisted the club's recent record against arch-rivals Swansea City has fallen way short of the mark and his players will have to show fans just how much it means to them when they two sides meet on Sunday.
Recent history has not been kind to Cardiff in this fixture, having won only one of their last derby fixtures, scoring just one goal in the process. Last season even saw Swansea record the first ever league double, too, so Cardiff are still licking their wounds in that regard.
But Hudson has not shied away from the enormity of the fixture. He knows all about it, too, having captained Cardiff in the derby as well as standing in the dugout earlier this year as a member of Steve Morison's coaching staff when the Swans downed the Bluebirds in their own back yard to complete that historic double.
READ MORE: Cardiff City news as Hudson delivers tubthumping Swansea City derby message
For Hudson and his players, though, Sunday represents a huge opportunity to change the narrative and start altering that poor recent record against their rivals.
"We’ve spoken about it with the players. We have spoken about how important it is to this club. The history of the derby," Hudson said.
"We’ve showed them what it means to the fans and everyone involved in this football club. How much we need to play with pride and show passion in the game."
When asked whether recent results could be deciphered as the clash meaning more to Swansea, Hudson replied: "Absolutely not. It doesn't mean less at all, it should mean the most. We should play with passion and play for the badge and understand what it means to the club and its fans.
"We have pointed it out to them. Spoken about how much it means to us all, the staff, the fans, the history of the game. We wanted to do that. It means everything.
"The record has not been good enough. We need to turn up and play for the badge, play for each other and play for the fans. It means everything to us. I’ve played in them and I can translate across what it means.
"We have to turn up together, as a group, united, play with passion and pride for the badge."
Cardiff go into the game as slight underdogs, most likely because Swansea go into the clash in a far richer vein of form than the Bluebirds. Swansea have won five of their last six games in the league, a string of results which has seen them rocket up to seventh, only three points off the top spot.
Cardiff have seen their positive form hit the buffers in the last two matches, although poor refereeing decisions, one of which has been overturned in Jack Simpson's red card being rescinded, have proved costly.
Nevertheless, Hudson is confident with how his squad of players are shaping up heading into the clash.
"If I look at the last two results we’ve been on the wrong side of two decisions," he added. "They change the game, which is disappointing, because if we have XI on the field it's a different game. We had a goal disallowed for, supposedly, offside.
"The three previous games to that we did really well. So you can talk about that whichever way you want. The group is still together and still fighting for each other. They are still playing until the last whistle even with a player having been taken away from them.
"We are in it together. Not just in it as staff, but as players, fans and as a football club. We have to use that to drive us forward and have confidence in themselves."
READ NEXT
'I have to be careful!' Fuming Mark Hudson baffled by Cardiff City red card at QPR
Poor Cardiff City player ratings as serious question marks raised over defenders at QPR
Cardiff City news as QPR plunged into chaos just hours before Bluebirds clash
